Saying Goodbye and Embracing the New

I travel solo and very rarely have a companion other than my boarding pass and my passport. Boarding passes change with the flight but my passport has endured the journey.

Then came the day I have been dreading… my beloved passport which has unlocked the doors to so many travel experiences and received so many loving stamps from immigration authorities across the world had reached the end of its life. I have had her for nine and a half years and the strip at the bottom of the profile page had worn thin from overuse and I was having problems at different ports so I knew I had to give her up.

I reflect on the number of stamps I have collected it is quite mind blowing. If you take into account the countries which no longer stamp the passport, I would say it’s over 120 stamps.

It’s time to embrace new beginnings and while the memory of my old passport will never leave me… (I will still carry her on every trip, so she doesn’t miss out on the adventures), I am so in love with my new passport and look forward to her opening the doors of the world to me!